OCR A Level History A Unit Group 3 Thematic study and historical interpretations: Civil Rights in the USA 1865-1992 November 2020 question paper Y319

Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages and explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the impact of Black Power on the African American civil rights

movement.

Passage A

By 1960 the Nation of Islam (NOI) had become a national organisation with name recognition in every major black community. It was one of the fastest growing black organisations and posed a distinctive threat to the civil rights establishment. The NOI, primarily during Malcolm X’s membership, provided a visible contrast to civil rights organisations. The demonisation of whites and the endorsement of self-defence was fundamentally incompatible with the humanistic language of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). On one level, the NOI brought attention to the presence of white supremacy virtually everywhere, and its effect on black people, such as unemployment, police brutality, and housing and job discrimination outside the South. It also made organisations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the SCLC seem attractive alternatives to white America, which recoiled at the bitter attacks made by the NOI. By 1963 concessions made from the white power structure were more common, partly because of the fear of the NOI, and the civil rights leadership knew this. The Black Power movement benefitted from the activities of the NOI. While the NOI did not adopt the slogans of Black Power, it promoted its essential principles: a rigorous affirmation of blackness and racial pride and an insistence on the economic and political liberation of black people, independent of whites.

Adapted from: J. Ogbar, Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity published in 2005.

Passage B

Adapted from D. Paterson, D. Willoughby and S. Willoughby, 'Civil Rights 1863-1980', pp284-285, Pearson Education, 2001. Item removed due to third party copyright restrictions.

Adapted from: D. Paterson, D. Willoughby and S. Willoughby, Civil Rights 1863–1980 published in 2001.

2* ‘The Supreme Court had more influence on the African American struggle for civil rights than any other branch of government.’ To what extent do you agree with this view of the period from 1865 to

1992?

3* ‘It was the activism of Native Americans themselves that was the most important factor in the advancement of their civil rights.’ How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1865 to

1992?

4* How united were American women in support of gender equality in the period from 1865 to 1992?